Original Poems Promoting Social Justice

At the Wall | A Social Justice Poem by Roy Pullam

The wall stands somberOn that windy morningGales blowing rainInto my faceI look at the namesFinding a school chumA poor boyHis fate sealedBy lack of opportunityNot unlikeOther 1A card carriersUnable to afford collegeTo find a doctorWho would shield themFrom the draftHe believedWilling to wearThe greenTo fight in a landBeyond his knowledgeOne day in AmericaExperiencing the good lifeThe nextLanding in a strange worldA land of constantUncertaintyFour monthsOf wading paddiesFour months of ambushesIntense firefightsThen the pajama-clad phantomsDisappearedA land mineIn a clearingA fatal stepAnd his life endedNot the homecomingWe wished for himBut we gatheredJust the sameTo hear the ministerSearching for an answerThen sharing memoriesGood timesWith the boyWe knewI took the paperPlacing itAgainst the wallDragging the pencilAcross the paperHis name risingOn the pageBold lettersI have readOver and overRemembering each timeThe futility of Vietnam